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Home My WebLink AboutVLMDAC Feb2014 Draft FinalMinutes Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Thursday, February 20, 2014 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM Vail Antlers Lodge - Caribou/Pronghorn Room VLMDAC Members Present: Laurie Mullen (West Vail Liquor Mart) Mia Vlaar, Vice Chair (East West Resorts) - Absent Skip Thurnauer Davy Ratchford (Vail Resorts) Michael Holton (VVMC) Jamie Gunion (Vail Recreation District) John Dawsey, Treasurer (CME) Beth Slifer, Chair (Slifer Designs) – By phone Jenn Bruno (Vail Town Council) Dale Bugby (Vail Town Council Alternate) VLMDAC Members Absent Mia Vlaar (East West Resorts) Also Present: Kelli McDonald (Town of Vail) Sybill Navas (Town of Vail) Meggen Kirkham (SITE Marketing) Kristin Yantis (MYPR) Taylor Cook (MYPR) Alex Rawal (Booyah!) Kathy Lichtenheld (Vail Valley Partnership) Jill Lammers (Vail Valley Partnership) Haley McNeill (Vail Valley Partnership) Barry Davis (CSE) Laura Waniuk (Event Marketing Liaison) Ellie Chadwick (goodness mfg) Tom Adams (goodness mfg) Jeff Andrews (CSE) Nicole Whitaker (CSE) Bobby Bank (CSE) Amy Cassidy (CSE) Jonathan Smith (Vail Resorts) Gabe Shalley (Vail Resorts) Brian Rodine (Vail Resorts) Josh Culver (Volume 9) Missy Johnson (Highline Sports & Entertainment) Ellen Miller (Vail Vitality Center) Satchele Burns Steve Wodlinger (TV8) Jeff Morgan (Vail Vitality Center) I. January 2014 Monthly Financial Report – Kathleen Halloran a. Jan-Dec. 2.6 million in lodging sales tax revenue for this year up 7% from last year and a record. Fund balance increased by half million dollars. II. Approval of January 16, 2013 Meeting Minutes a. Motion to accept minutes as presented/Skip Thurnauer. Seconded/Laurie Mullen. Passed unanimously III. Creative Concepts – goodness mfg – Ellie Chadwick and Tom Adams see slides for details Refreshed audience – looked at audience from a different perspective, short term solve. Current audience is “flourishing families” category. Revised audience is older and wealthier. Simmons was used for the research of the demographics. Interest in nature – this notion is not something captured in research; currently it just shows general interest for nature. Looked at social media engagement to better understand audience. Three broad categories were determined from that research. It was asked if this audience travels with multiple generations and they will look into it. It was asked if they have a sense of how the 3 groups make up the overall group, there wasn’t an idea about how it is distributed. “Walled garden” safe but in nature, contained but free enough to feel authentic. Brand truth – there is a lot to offer for a vacation in Vail, substantial experiences. People who come to Vail are active and looking to participate in activities and amenities and try new things. The word “Luxury” is to be used internally to reflect high quality. Tagline is a great promise to make to the consumer and deliver on. Rules of Icons book was passed out. Ratchford asked if everyone believes that Vail is an icon. Dawsey pointed out that the ability to transcend others feels authentic. Discussion ensued about why there is nothing like Vail and how the tag line defines icon. Creative expressions and ideas were presented. Icon theme to be used in PR approach, “tales from Vail” could be used in any of the four directions presented. Discussion ensued about creative options presented and how it could represent Vail in an ad campaign. Recommendation will be presented to Mia and Beth. Will move forward with “enchanted Vail” creative concept. IV. Partner Tactics- See slides for details Town of Vail - Jenn Bruno – see slides for details Town of Vail goals were presented; goals were determined during a recent Town Council retreat. Action plan will be presented from council in a future meeting. The Town of Vail Council is looking to create an action plan to accompany the goals. Booyah! - Josh Culver & Alex Rawal – see slides for details 2013 results and tactics were presented. As soon as brand direction is established, digital marketing will move forward. Budget will allow for 3 emails to be sent to established database list. Focus is on converting visitors looking to come to Colorado and find vail.com. Branded keyword shift will take place. Opportunity to branch out based on some of the research. McDonald pointed out that maybe sharing keyword purchases for collaborated effort to help not drive up cost of popular Vail related keywords. More brand truths to be included in digital assets. Shift toward out of state visitor target. Focus on things that make Vail unique. Ratchford pointed out how crucial “book now” marketing is to take place in February and March. Lodging properties present continual challenge to engage in creating “book now” packages, inventory and offers. Ratchford suggested that the TOV create pressure for engagement from the lodging properties. Discussion ensued about importance of “book now” push. Mullen asked if tools exist to determine what will work for early bookings. Rodine suggested adding a pixel to check out page for tracking purposes. SITE – Meggen Kirkham – see slides for details Goals and tactics were presented. Gabe Shelley from VR presented information about EGE Air Alliance. Houston flight is secured again this summer. Air Alliance goals include research long term funding options. Ratchford asked if anything has changed for flights into Aspen airport, Shalley said it was too early to have heard of any major changes. “Book by,” offer to be offered by lodging properties. “mid-week,” offer to be available as well. Booking call to action is included in all ads. Bulk of media spend in Dallas and Houston areas. Discussion ensued about importance of cross marketing. Ratchford just returned from Mexico City and reiterated the importance of having something to sell because people want to buy. Summer was on top of everyone’s mind in Mexico City. Different marketing techniques were used in Mexico and a different approach is taken and received well. Ratchford talked about the growing trend of mountain biking in Mexico audience and pointed out that Vail could capitalize on this trend.  Motion to move forward with cross-marketing suggestion presented/Thurnauer, Holton/second. MYPR – Kristin Yantis - see slides for details VR created a mark for summer job project and it was presented. Visual cue to be used in entry portion of process and probably not used after initial process. Biggest issue is ironing out rules and regulations. Brand video will be integrated and repurposed. Booyah! To help with targeted messaging and will include colleges and universities. Mullen pointed out that the VLMDAC needs to be part of the decision making process in order to take ownership of project. Yantis agreed. V. Update on Guest Profiler – Jill Lammers - Vail Valley Partnership – See slides for details Currently in the process of collecting data from participating lodging properties 2012-2013 May- October. The purpose of this data collection is to mirror winter efforts in understanding when people are coming to Vail via the lodges booking data. The hope is that data will aid in efficiently spending money based on data collection and when planning and booking takes place from a lodging perspective. VI. Lodging Quality Assurance Program – Kathy Lichtenheld - Vail Valley Partnership- see slides for details In 1997 it was decided that visitors came to Vail for world class skiing and did have world class lodging and in 1999 the program was started to better provide accommodations with a rating system that is based on important items to the guest experience. Examples: couches, case goods, living rooms. Two free re-rates are included to encourage updates and re-rating of properties. Very few bronze (lowest) rated properties exist anymore. VisitValley.com has a list of all Vail properties with ratings for each. Along with a list of certified vendors who understand ratings process and how to achieve better rating. Jonathan Smith pointed out the LQA is very helpful and places like Breckenridge struggle with this because an LQA doesn’t exist there. Overall value of accommodations is important to gauging guest experience. Lichtenheld has regular meetings with homeowners and stresses an importance on education. Ratings continue to increase to gold and platinum (highest) rating because of her efforts to educate property owners. Many properties aim to raise rating by 1% every year. Mullen asked to create a press release and promote this concept. A challenge is getting homeowners to make changes and Licthenheld has to present the guest perspective to get the homeowner to understand the importance of increasing rating. More and more people are updating for 2015. VII. Web site audit for Summer content – Vail Resorts – Davy Ratchford & Brian Rodine - see slides for details VR Corporate SEO team has paid a copy writer to see if they can drive more summer traffic, top 2 areas of website are weddings and groups to see what works. Events updated and on website. Updates are taking place right now too. Mid-March is when people start looking at Vail.com for summer. Currently ahead of the game in refining current content. VIII. Other Business McDonald – revised list of meeting dates sent out and called attention to the 17th joint meeting with CSE and event producers. Purpose is to make sure events follow brand. Purposed economic council joint meeting. Asked to be part of May 20 council meeting - goodness to present to Council. IX. Adjournment  Motion to adjourn/ Thurnauer. Seconded/Gunion. Passed unanimously. Upcoming Meeting: VLMDAC Meeting, March 20, 8:30 – 11:30, Antlers